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NBA Picks

Max Out Wednesday's Profit With These Top NBA Picks

The Boston Celtics look like they want to make the playoffs after all. We’re not sure we can say the same thing about the Phoenix Suns. And do the Los Angeles Clippers belong in Wednesday’s NBA picks?

Jason’s record as of Feb. 24: 35-34-4 ATS, 2-5 Totals

Nice to see the basketball gods have a sense of humor. After all the grief we’ve been giving Austin Rivers since he joined the Los Angeles Clippers, he went off for 28 points in Saturday’s 126-99 win over the Sacramento Kings. Hey, we did say it wasn’t personal. We hope Rivers has a long and productive career. He’s young, he’s got some talent. It could happen.

But should we open up our wallets on the Clippers Wednesday night when they visit the Houston Rockets? Quite possibly. First, we have what should be an interesting Atlantic matchup between two old rivals. And we’re also going to head out West and see about fading the team that punted its playoff chances this spring. Our tour of Wednesday’s NBA odds board begins… now.

New York vs. Boston (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG)
By interesting, we don’t necessarily mean competitive. The Knicks (10-45 SU, 21-32-2 ATS) are in complete and utter Tank Mode after buying out Amar’e Stoudemire (19.6 PER) and shutting down Carmelo Anthony (21.7 PER) for the season. That leaves New York with a starting five of point guard Jose Calderon (11.7 PER) and assorted spare parts.

The interest is with the other team. The Celtics (21-33 SU, 30-24 ATS) have apparently decided to give the playoffs a shot after all, judging by their deadline-day trade for Isaiah Thomas (19.8 PER). Boston gave up a Top-10 protected first-round pick in 2016 as part of the package, and Thomas paid instant dividends with 21 points in Monday’s victory over his old team, the Phoenix Suns (–8 at home). Let’s see if Boston has enough jam to beat the NBA odds as double-digit favorites. It’s been almost two years since the C’s were this chalky.

L.A. Clippers vs. Houston (8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN)
At least we were right about DeAndre Jordan (21.0 PER) not lighting up the Kings for another 20-20 game. And as for Rivers, he was back to scoring zero points for the Clippers (37-20 SU, 24-33 ATS) in Monday’s 90-87 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies (+3.5 away), who were also able to keep Jordan relatively contained. But Wednesday’s matchup gives Jordan another crack at the Rockets (38-18 SU, 32-24 ATS), who allowed the big man to drop 24 points and 20 rebounds in a 110-95 win for the Clippers (–3 at home) back on Feb. 11.

We wouldn’t be surprised if it happens again. The Rockets are still without Dwight Howard (18.1 PER), and they could also be without Patrick Beverley (plus-1.2 BPM) after he sat out Monday’s game against Minnesota with flu-like symptoms. We also kind of like the idea of supporting the Clippers while somewhat-overvalued Blake Griffin (23.0 PER) is out. Los Angeles is 4-2 SU and ATS without its red jumpsuit-wearing power forward.

Phoenix vs. Denver (9:00 p.m. ET)
So the Suns (29-28 SU, 28-27-2 ATS) traded Thomas to Boston, which is very strange considering they also sent Goran Dragic (16.6 PER) to the Miami Heat after Dragic grew tired of standing in the corner waiting for the ball. Phoenix did get Brandon Knight (18.3 PER) from the Milwaukee Bucks in another trade, and he figures to pair well with Eric Bledsoe (19.5 PER), but now the Suns have no depth, and they’re 0-5 SU and 1-4 ATS in their last five games.

We’re not super-stoked about following the Nuggets (20-36 SU, 21-32-2 ATS), though. So we’re going to recommend adding the OVER to your NBA picks, which is 4-0 in the last four games for the Suns and 4-0 in their last four meetings with Denver. May the sphere be with you.